The 45th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) was held in Koror, Palau from July 29 to August 1, based on the theme “The Ocean: Life and Future.”​​

The completion of our $3 million investment in the Micronesia Challenge to support urgent conservation efforts of natural resources crucial to Pacific traditions, cultures and livelihoods ahead of our 2018 schedule. The overall goal of the Challenge is to effectively conserve at least 30 percent of the near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.

At the Pacific Oceanscape Leaders Reception, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and CI presented the annual Pacific Oceanscape Leadership Award to William Kostka of the Micronesia Conservation Trust recognising his work to create and finance the Micronesia Challenge.

Palau's declared marine EEZ sanctuary was progressed with priority zones identified for conservation and sustainable local use, also under the Micronesia Challenge. These zones reflect local food security and tourism related fishing needs. With this, Palau's Sanctuary joins Kiribati's Phoenix Islands Protected Area, the Cook Island Marine Park, and New Caledonia's Coral Sea MPA in a growing family of sites under the Pacific Oceanscape. CI continues to be a trusted adviser to these initiatives. This is a new scale of ocean management as the size of the commitments in the Pacific Islands region amounts to an area larger than the five largest States in the USA (Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico) combined.

On a strategic level, the 2014 Pacific Islands Forum produced a notable historic ocean management paradigm shift towards the treatment of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as large multiple use marine protected areas. This wave of change in how the ocean is managed has been lead by Pacific Island states as they realise they must protect and manage what they own in the ocean. These Pacific Island states are recognising that what we do now will have major effects on the health of the ocean and its ability to provide the natural capital that we all depend upon. Conservation International applauds the great vision and actions of the people of the Pacific Islands who are taking these great steps to protect what nature provides.

About the forum

Given the forum's focus, it was a pivotal year for the
Pacific Oceanscape — a globally significant framework for ocean conservation agreed upon by 23 Pacific island nations and territories at the 2010 Pacific Leaders Forum. As the founding and lead nonprofit of this initiative, Conservation International provides key technical support to the commitments that have flowed from it, which include some of the world’s largest marine managed areas.

The Pacific Islands Forum is a political grouping of 16 independent and self-governing states. These states, together with official associate members and forum observers, meet annually to discuss collective responses to regional issues. CI recognizes the immense value and importance of the ocean to the nations of the Pacific. For more than 20 years, we have supported improved marine management, research, conservation and protection of the Pacific islands’ natural resources that sustain livelihoods around the globe.

Together with the leaders of the Pacific islands, their regional intergovernmental agencies and civil society, we are working toward improved ocean management and conservation under the Pacific Oceanscape Framework.

This framework has provided a united voice on ocean issues that is being heard around the world. It has inspired groundbreaking, large-scale marine protected area commitments on a scale never before seen. This includes
Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area (408,250 square kilometers), the
Cook Islands Marine Park (1.2 million square kilometers) and the largest of all,
New Caledonia’s The Natural Park of the Coral Sea (1.3 million square kilometers). Another key part of the Pacific Oceanscape is the
Micronesia Challenge​, a pledge by five Micronesian states — including PIF host Palau — to conserve at least 30% of near-shore marine resources and 20% of land across Micronesia by 2020. ​

These efforts are helping to conserve and sustainably manage the region’s ocean resources by supporting: